Impressionism, a historical reconstruction

Size of the expositions

a comparison

 

Introduction:
On this page we compare the size of the ‘impressionist’ expositions with other exhibitions.  We will see that they were quite small. The number of partakers varied from 9 in 1882 till 30 in 1874; average this was just a bit more than 17 partakers. The catalogue numbers varied from 165 in 1874 to 252 in 1876. In total there were 1755 catalogue numbers (in reality about 2050 art-works), with an average of 219 catalogue numbers. The amount of exhibited art-works per artist varied from 5,5 in 1874 to 22,6 in 1882, with an average of 12,6. This average of 12,6 of exhibited art-works per artist is much higher than at any other group exhibition.

 

The size of the ‘impressionist’ expositions:
Note: we will only look at what the catalogues indicate. In reality the number of exhibited art-works was higher. In in brackets I will note the partakers that exhibited outside the catalogue (=hc), but I won’t count them.
In 1874 there were 30 (+1hc) partakers and 165 catalogue numbers, with an average of 5,5 numbers per partaker.
In 1876 there were 19 partakers and 252 catalogue numbers, with an average of 13,3 numbers per partaker.
In 1877 there were 18 partakers and 241 catalogue numbers, with an average of 13,3 numbers per partaker.
In 1879 there were 14 (+2hc) partakers and 246 catalogue numbers, with an average of 17,6 numbers per partaker.
In 1880 there were 19 partakers and 232 catalogue numbers, with an average of 12,2 numbers per partaker.
In 1881 there were 13 (+1hc) partakers and 170 catalogue numbers, with an average of 13,1 numbers per partaker.
In 1882 there were 9 partakers and 203 catalogue numbers, with an average of 22,6 numbers per partaker.
In 1886 there were 17 (+1hc) partakers and 246 catalogue numbers, with an average of 14,5 numbers per partaker.
The average number of partakers was a bit more than 17 and the catalogue numbers about 219 and the numbers per partaker was 12,6.

 

A comparison with other exhibitions:

The Salon:
The Salon was much bigger: At the Salons of 1874-1886 there was an average of 3468 partakers and 5033 exhibited works (meaning catalogue numbers). Varying from 2157 partakers with 4874 works (in 1874) and 3701 partakers with 7339 works (in 1880 with the start of the Salon de la Société des Artistes Français) (iR1). So, the number of partakers was 200x higher and the number of catalogue numbers 23x higher than at the ‘impressionist’ expositions. The average of exhibited art-works per artist was just about 1,5 art-works, which is much less than the 12,5 at the ‘impressionist’ expositions.

Salon des Refusés:
The size of the Salon des Refusés varied very much. The number of participant reduced each next Salon, from at least 410 in 1863, to 277 in 1873, to 157 in 1875 untill just 30 in 1886. So, the number of participants was higher than at the ‘impressionist’ expositions.

Regional exhibitions:
At regional exhibitions the amount of partakers varied from 27 till 573. The amount of works varied from 95 till 1495. Partakers showed just a few works, mostly 1 à 3 and at max 5. So they could be about the same size as the ‘impressionist’ expositions and also much bigger.

London 1870-1875:
The Exhibitions of the Society of French Artists at the German Gallery of Durand-Ruel in London held from 1870-1875 contained probably about 140 art-works, so smaller than the ‘impressionist’ expositions.

Hôtel Drouot:
At Hôtel Drouot in 1875 4 key Impressionists showed 73 works and in 1877 almost the same 4 artists showed 45 works.

Expositions Internationale de peinture (et de sculpture):
The catalogue numbers of the Expositions Internationale de peinture (et de sculpture) varied from 87 till 162, so smaller than the ‘impressionist’ expositions. The number of partakers, of the expositions held since 1882, varied from 5 till 47.

Les XX:
There were 32 till 40 participants at the exhibitions of Les XX. In 1884 they showed an average of 2,8 and in 1885 4,5 art-works. We see later on, that partakers exhibited more works, like Monet 10 paintings in 1886 and James Ensor 22 works in 1888. So in general there were more partakers than at the ‘impressionist’ expositions from 1874-86, but they showed much less works per person and probably a bit less art-works were shown per exhibition.

Salon des Indépendants:
The size of the Salon des Indépendants, that started in 1884, was very variable in amount of partakers and catalogue numbers. It varied from 99 partakers showing 203 works (in 1900), till 1388 partakers showing 6745 works. So it varied from the size of the ‘impressionist’ expositions till almost the size of the Salon.

Société des Pastellistes Français:
There mostly were more partakers at the Société des Pastellistes Français, but the amount of art-works was mostly lower than at the ‘impressionist’ expositions.

New York 1886:
At the “Works in Oil and Pastel by the Impressionists of Paris“ held in New York in 1886, there were about 300 art-works exhibited by 30 artists. So, a little bigger than the ‘impressionist’ expositions.

Exposition Universelle:
The art exhibitions at the Exposition Universelle were very large. In 1889 the international exhibition ‘oeuvres d’art‘ contained at least 2777 art-works from living French artists and many art-works of artists from other countries. At the ‘Exposition Centennale de l’Art Français 1789-1889′ there were at least 652 paintings exhibited and many other art-works.

Volpini 1889:
At the ‘Exposition des peintures du groupe Impressionniste et Synthétiste’, in short the ‘Volpini exposition’ in 1889, there were 8 partakers showing together at least 94 art-works. So it was about half as big as the average of the ‘impressionist’ expositions.

Salon de la Société National des Beaux-Arts:
The Salon de la Société National des Beaux-Arts was a split off of the Salon de la Société des Artistes Français and started in 1890.  In 1890 there were just 450 participants, in 1907 there was the highest amount of participants, namely 1137. In 1890 there were just 1422 works exhibited, in 1903 there was the highest amount of  art-works, namely 2759. There was a jury. The average of works that artists did show was about 3, but for example Sisley mostly showed more works.

Salon de la Rose+Croix:
There were 30 (1894) till 80 (1892) partakers at the exhibitions of the Salon de la Rose+Croix, with an average of 49. Showing in total 1023 art-works (=catalogue numbers), varying from 84 (1894) till 275 (1893) with an average of 171. So in general you could say per exhibition there were more partakers than at the ‘impressionist’ expositions from 1874-86, but in average lesser works were shown.

The Salon d’Automne:
The Salon d’Automne, starting in 1903, was quite large. Mostly more than 600 partakers showed more than 2000 art-works. So much bigger than the ‘impressionist’ expositions.

La Libre Esthétique:
When we look at the catalogues of 1905-1912 of La Libre Esthétique there was a number of partakers varying from 24 till 66 with an average of 38, so more than the ‘impressionist’ expositions. The catalogue numbers varied from 223 till 289 (so quite stable), with an average of 254, which is about the same as the ‘impressionist’ expositions. The number of catalogue entries per partaker varied from 3,3 till 10,7, with an average of 6,7, which is less than at the ‘impressionist’ expositions.

Centennial exhibitions:
The ‘Exposition centennale de l’art français‘ held in Saint Petersburg showed 948 works by 199 artists. So much larger than the ‘impressionist’ expositions.

 

Recommanded citation: “The size of the ‘impressionist’ expositions, a comparison. Last modified 2023/11/15. https://www.impressionism.nl/size-expositions/”